Top athletes dodging races to protect egos?

Chivito550 · 24-08-2014 5:09pm #1

Usain Bolt has ended his season pretty much just as it has started:

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/aug/24/usain-bolt-ends-season-withdraws-zurich

Afraid to show up to Zurich, and God forbid, lose a race?

Mo Farah running a rubbish 2 mile race, with no top athletes brought in to compete against him. A complete set up for the "Mo-show" to please the crowd, rather than push himself against the best Kenyans and Ethiopians right now, in a fast paced race.

Both these examples would frustrate the life out of you, and is bad for the sport IMO.

YFlyer · 24-08-2014 5:14pm

Plenty of club athletes do the same. Can weaken a cross country or road team.

pconn062 · 24-08-2014 5:57pm

All too common and as you say, damaging to the sport. Even on a national level with the proliferation of road races the top guys can hide in some low-level race and pick up some easy money. Unlike in the 80's and 90's when there were only a handful of races and all the top guys had to battle it out together. I remember a guy from my club telling me that he broke 24 minutes in the Raheny 5 mile before and didn't make the top 10.

Some Kind of Wizard · 24-08-2014 6:44pm

Yes, it did come across as setting up a Mo Show.....Farah's 2 mile European record also highlights his strength at the shorter stuff and how ridiuclous his marathon antics were. Money money money.

ThePiedPiper · 25-08-2014 9:11am

Bolt has been annoying the hell out of me since very shortly after Berlin 2009. 2008 and 2009 were his peak, at that point, anything was possible. Everything since has been more about the show, false starts, his biggest rival sprinters getting banned, supposed injuries, dodging races, $hit talk about doing the long jump, 400m, and breaking 19 seconds for 200m, joining Man Utd when he retires from athletics, etc. Far from being the savior of athletics and sprinting, I think he's actually damaging the sport at this point and is completely full of it!

I've nothing against Farah per se, but the constant fawning over him from the British media, and their insistence that he's the best distance runner of all time is sickening. What should have been very enjoyable London marathons over the last couple of years have been sidetracked by the Mo sideshow, he's gotten shown up badly in races where the actual best distance runners of this generation have been competing, and when he produces his customary sit and kick wins against a bunch of nobodies, we've to listen to more of the same rubbish. Bolt and Farah are box office these days, the sport is bigger than the both of them, and anybody else.

TFBubendorfer · 25-08-2014 9:28am

That caper has been going on for decades. I'm old enough to remember Coe and Ovett constantly avoiding each other (but breaking each other's records on a seemingly regular basis).

There's nothing new under the sun.

average_runner · 25-08-2014 9:48am

Yep, constantly going on, i said it a few months ago here and got terrible abuse from some people on here!!

They are killing their own sport

MrCreosote · 25-08-2014 10:49am

It's a non-Olympics non-World champs year. Cut them some slack- they need some chillaxing time. They're not going to take the chance of some niggle turning into a major injury either.

average_runner · 25-08-2014 11:35am

MrCreosote wrote: »

It's a non-Olympics non-World champs year. Cut them some slack- they need some chillaxing time. They're not going to take the chance of some niggle turning into a major injury either.

So they are all injured? They wont have any meets if they dont start racing

tHE vAGGABOND · 25-08-2014 1:09pm

The sad thing is that a "Mo show" like that yesterday is better for the sport right now, than hype for him racing someone and getting beaten, or his London marathon adventure...

But that is sad, what the sport needs are more names and some healthy "Blur or Oasis" rivalry at a few different events, and one or two mad yolks, like Benabad "what will he do next"...

[as such, I think Bakele picking his races for now in Marathon is a good thing, as he has a big name, and if he does a 2.03 kinda time in Chicago it sets it up quite well for a big race down the road and some good old fashioned hype and press..]

walshb · 25-08-2014 2:37pm

Slate Bolt all you like but the man has always delivered the goods on the big big occasions. They can't always be at their absolute best and taking every race available. I prefer to remember Bolt for giving me many memorable sprint moments. He really did a service of the sport of T&F. Bit sad to see that effort and goodness being dismissed with these criticisms. He's a global name. Global names deserve a bit of selectivity.

Top athletes dodging races to protect egos?

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